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We have a solid young core with Green, Kithcart, Dickens, Wade, Kalu, Godwin, Oliver and Reese. These young guys gained a ton of experience this year and learned what its like to play in a NCAA Tournament game. We still have questions on the offensive side of the ball but I think the future is bright. We could use a couple pieces to fill in but the core is intact.

I'm excited for the future of ODU basketball!

TBH, down the home stretch of the season, I wish we hadn't run our entire offense through our Seniors. They didn't deliver. If we had featured X, Kithcart, and Zip more, I think our offensive production would have been much better. We played right into our opponents hands. They focused all of their defensive attention on Caver and Stith, and we almost exclusively ran our offense through those two instead of the guys who are capable of scoring but had almost no defensive attention.

Things look bright. What would you all say is our biggest need heading into next year?

1) Post player development / recruiting 2) PG recruiting / development (Kithcart,Wade)

(03-22-2019 08:27 AM)T-Mac Wrote:  TBH, down the home stretch of the season, I wish we hadn't run our entire offense through our Seniors. They didn't deliver. If we had featured X, Kithcart, and Zip more, I think our offensive production would have been much better. We played right into our opponents hands. They focused all of their defensive attention on Caver and Stith, and we almost exclusively ran our offense through those two instead of the guys who are capable of scoring but had almost no defensive attention.

We ran a ton of offense through Green, especially last night. He didnt knock down shots.

Without Caver playing tremendous, it would have been ugly. No one else was able to step up when given a chance.

(03-22-2019 08:19 AM)cmett003 Wrote:  We have a solid young core with Green, Kithcart, Dickens, Wade, Kalu, Godwin, Oliver and Reese. These young guys gained a ton of experience this year and learned what its like to play in a NCAA Tournament game. We still have questions on the offensive side of the ball but I think the future is bright. We could use a couple pieces to fill in but the core is intact.

I'm excited for the future of ODU basketball!

We need some offense. I am not sure if it is the skill of the players, or the offensive scheme, but something needs to change. We need to replace an average of 32 points per-game in BJ and Caver and I don't see where that is coming from?

I posted this on the conference board:

We have some much needed shooting coming back with Godwin and the addition of Oliver. As far as others:

Green: Broke out towards the end of the season, especially when BJ lost his stroke. He'll need to be ready to be the main man next year as he will be the focus of the other teams defensive schemes.
Kithcart: Showed flashes of brilliance but also a lot of boneheaded plays. He'll be running the show next year so needs some consistency.
Dickens: Huge upside, showed flashes of brilliance, but seemed to hit a wall towards the end of the season. Needs to make the next step in the offseason (and eat some biscuits.)
Wade: Does everything well, except shoot. Needs to work on his J.
Ezikpe: Best looking freshman. Needs to take the next step.
Carver: Hopefully, he can pull a Brandon Johnson and develop some sort of offensive game for his senior season to accompany his fine D and rebounding. We just can't afford to play 4 on 5 on the offensive end. For the last month, no one even bothered to guard him.

Hope to see Joe Reece bring something to the table as well. Could use a backup PG and another shooter before the season begins.

(03-22-2019 08:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 08:27 AM)T-Mac Wrote:  TBH, down the home stretch of the season, I wish we hadn't run our entire offense through our Seniors. They didn't deliver. If we had featured X, Kithcart, and Zip more, I think our offensive production would have been much better. We played right into our opponents hands. They focused all of their defensive attention on Caver and Stith, and we almost exclusively ran our offense through those two instead of the guys who are capable of scoring but had almost no defensive attention.

We ran a ton of offense through Green, especially last night. He didnt knock down shots.

Without Caver playing tremendous, it would have been ugly. No one else was able to step up when given a chance.

It was ugly anyway. 27% or whatever it was. WAYYYY too much one on one last night, IMO. Especially from Green. Just wasn't our night. We need help on the O side. I'm sure the coaches might know this!!! I hope!

I'm actually very excited about our offensive potential with next year's group. I loved the year's team and what Caver and Stith did for us. However, at times (like last night) the entire offense relied on them after Goodwin got hurt. That's why we would have multiple scoring droughts every game. If you could take those two away we struggled mightily. It wasn't until Green came into his own at the end of the year that we had a third option.

I think next year we have the potential to have a much more versatile offense. Goodwin and Oliver should be plus outside threats and Green, Wade and Kithcart have the ability to get to the rim. I think Kalu has the potential to be the best offensive threat we have had from a big in a long time. The biggest question is can Kithcart be efficient in the offense. He has the ability to make the big plays but can he do it without 8 turnovers a game.

So it seems the ship has sailed on getting freshmen for next year (is this true?) so I guess we will be in the transfer market. I assume we don't hear official transfer news until mid April?

(03-22-2019 09:05 AM)odu09 Wrote:  So it seems the ship has sailed on getting freshmen for next year (is this true?) so I guess we will be in the transfer market. I assume we don't hear official transfer news until mid April?

We have gotten some good freshmen in the late period in the past (Arnaud Dahi). We'll see.

(03-22-2019 08:58 AM)mac Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 08:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(03-22-2019 08:27 AM)T-Mac Wrote:  TBH, down the home stretch of the season, I wish we hadn't run our entire offense through our Seniors. They didn't deliver. If we had featured X, Kithcart, and Zip more, I think our offensive production would have been much better. We played right into our opponents hands. They focused all of their defensive attention on Caver and Stith, and we almost exclusively ran our offense through those two instead of the guys who are capable of scoring but had almost no defensive attention.

We ran a ton of offense through Green, especially last night. He didnt knock down shots.

Without Caver playing tremendous, it would have been ugly. No one else was able to step up when given a chance.

It was ugly anyway. 27% or whatever it was. WAYYYY too much one on one last night, IMO. Especially from Green. Just wasn't our night. We need help on the O side. I'm sure the coaches might know this!!! I hope!

Absolutely. Jones even says it publicly in just about every interview this week.

And yes, I too hope Oliver + Green and Godwin will provide some consistent offense.

The thought is that Green, Godwin, Oliver, and Kalu can all be double digit scorers next year. Add the production from Dickens, Kithcart, and Wade and that is plenty of points to win. Next year's team should be phenomenal defensively. I think it might be the best defensive team we have seen in the Jones era. We should get a transfer in, but there is hope to get two of them. People will hate me for saying this, but the best team in the future will not be next year, but the one after. Remember, that after next year, all we lose is Carver.

I think next year is going to be one of growth. Not a bad year, but I don't think we'll be contending for the conference title. Year after though, that's the year I think we might break out. We've got a lot of talent in our Freshman/Sophmores

Its tough to blame specific players, but when we have some defensive first guys in the lineup, those 2-3 scores need to play well (if playing a really good team like Purdue). Something happened with BJ down the stretch (injury?). You can't have someone that is that big of a part of the offense just fall off the cliff. We gutted our way through the conference tourney, but it isn't winning against a top 10 team.

The offense next year will be more balanced. But, when we need a basket, it will probably be Green.

We also need to get more athletic to get easier baskets. Green/Kithcart fit this mold. BJ did not, he just doesn't score buckets in transition.

We might be better defensively without BJ, but we need to improve rebounding wise.

We should be able to compete moving forward, but I don't see us improving from a 13/14 seed team if we can get out of CUSA. We have too many weaknesses. Dickens can't score. Carver can't score. Reece couldn't get on the court this year. Zip is undersized if we are playing a big team like Purdue instead of a positionless team. Wade can't shoot. X and Kith are streaky and inconsistent. Team will be young. Granted, some of these areas could improve, but unless Oliver is the next coming of Ja Morant, I'm having trouble seeing any improvement over this year. We need better players to take the next step.

There is nothing I worry about less than Kalu (6-7 250) being undersized.

A big man that could shoot 3s would be a nice weapon

(03-22-2019 09:41 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  We should be able to compete moving forward, but I don't see us improving from a 13/14 seed team if we can get out of CUSA. We have too many weaknesses. Dickens can't score. Carver can't score. Reece couldn't get on the court this year. Zip is undersized if we are playing a big team like Purdue instead of a positionless team. Wade can't shoot. X and Kith are streaky and inconsistent. Team will be young. Granted, some of these areas could improve, but unless Oliver is the next coming of Ja Morant, I'm having trouble seeing any improvement over this year. We need better players to take the next step.

Dickens has shown that he can be a scorer. He just seemed to hit a wall late in the year. I think he's going to be a good one.

(03-22-2019 09:41 AM)EverRespect Wrote:  We should be able to compete moving forward, but I don't see us improving from a 13/14 seed team if we can get out of CUSA. We have too many weaknesses. Dickens can't score. Carver can't score. Reece couldn't get on the court this year. Zip is undersized if we are playing a big team like Purdue instead of a positionless team. Wade can't shoot. X and Kith are streaky and inconsistent. Team will be young. Granted, some of these areas could improve, but unless Oliver is the next coming of Ja Morant, I'm having trouble seeing any improvement over this year. We need better players to take the next step.

WOW! No he will be good against everyone.